reality

The future of his army goes through augmented reality

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The Chinese military state has been suffering for years An important process of technological modernization. The country led by Xi Jinping increased by 7.2% its defense budget by 2025, and is currently considered as The third largest military power in the world. For about a decade, China proves augmented and virtual reality technologies for military logistics. One of its most recent strategies goes through the Mars system (Military augmented reality system), one that seems taken from a science fiction film, or the last installment of ‘Call of Duty’. Inside a video game. Soldiers of the popular liberation army have augmented reality devices at their disposal. Teams that allow the units to use this technology to see through the walls, obtain third -party information (drones, colleagues, position of other combat elements, etc.) and expedite combat operations. They have thermal, night vision and cameras to track the environment They are able to delineate humanoid objectives for their best detection They can actually show 3D maps of the territory They label and establish markers shared with other team members They project a digital cross in the eye to point more precision Reading the device functions list, it seems closer to what we would find in ‘Call of Duty’ than what an average user would understand as military technology. Mars technology, from the beginning, is focused for real combat use. Through Chinese networks, such as Bilibili, The design and operation of some recent versions of the device has been seen. In test phase. China has been testing this type of devices for two years, and it is clear that the future of military operations goes through AI. Despite this, it is important to highlight that these types of technologies have not been deployed in real combat, and that both physical impact and cognitive load that entails using them is being studied in depth. They are not just for war. Although the most advanced own devices have combat guidance, China has been using augmented reality for other military purposes for years. In 2023, the Chinese Air Forces made the use of Hololens 2 for Areonautio maintenance tasks. AR devices have also been used for training Paracharidism units and out -of -combat tactical training tasksthrough completely virtual or live environments by augmented reality. An answer to the US. The United States, first military world power, has a calendar similar to that of China. He closed his first contract with Microsoft For system development Ivas (Integrated Visual Augmentation System) In 2018, one that has been in evidence since then. It is the system with which China tries to rival, and one that is also trying to finalize its test phases. The biggest challenge? American soldiers complained about the first final versions (2022) for dizziness, nausea and neck injuries after the continued use of these heavy devices. In 2024, the American army deployed about 3,000 test devices, in this case improved to avoid these problems. Intensive tests are being carried out in this first half of 2025, and conclusive results are expected before the end of the year. It is not the only plan. At the end of 2024, Reuters revealed that China had been using old Versions of the Meta Models for Military Purposes. Specifically, it was pointed out that Chinese investigation institutions linked to the popular liberation army used the publicly available goal model to create a chatbot with military applications called Chatbit. An unauthorized military assistant according to goal, since its technology can only be used with military applications in the United States and some agencies from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. China as a military superpower. China has been consolidating as a military and nuclear power for years, having deeply modernizing its nuclear arsenal in recent years. He US Department of Defense He estimates that China currently has an arsenal made up of More than 600 nuclear eyeletsand that plans to increase this figure until reaching 1,000 eyelets in 2030. Something that, added to the construction of the largest military center in the world 30 kilometers from the southwest of Beijing, it makes clear the strategic response to the arms development of the United States. Image | United States Army In Xataka | Online anonymity no longer has a place in China. His new virtual identity card is assured of this

Chatgpt is taking some people to the edge of madness. Reality is less alarmist and much more complex

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Can a conversation with Chatgpt go crazy? A recent one New York Times report It has unleashed a wave of concern about the dangers of artificial intelligence and the effect it can have on our mind. Distortion of reality, delusions and even suicides. The panorama that draws us is terrible. Are we facing a real threat or simply before a new technological panic? What happened. In an extensive report published last weekend in the New York Times, different cases are reported in which Chatgpt would have encouraged conspiracy theories and supported dangerous ideas. One of the cases they report is that of Eugene Torres, who began to talk with Chatgpt about the Simulation theory and reinforced his ideas to the point of taking him to a delusional state in which he believed to be caught in a false universe in the purest ‘Matrix’ style. They also mention the case of a man with bipolar disorder who ended up being killed by the police after a conversation with Chatgpt made him believe that he had killed the AI ​​of which he had fallen in love. They are alarming cases without a doubt and this is not the only article in this regard, although the one that has become more viral. A search returns dozens of results that tell us about risks of the use of chatbots in our mental health. You have to search for a lot to find critical positions before this wave of alarmismbecause There arealthough they don’t have so much impact. AI as a psychologist. The AI ​​is pending in many sectors and that of health is no less. In the United States the the use of chatbots of AI as therapy And more and more users are They turn to chatgpt to seek emotional refugesome up to a Substitute for the psychologist. Although the use of AI as support in the therapeutic process has positive aspects as the immediacy or the Early diagnosisthey also exist inconveniences. The lack of human bond and Excessive complacency Of this type of chatbots they do not make an alternative to a psychologist and can become especially dangerous in people suffering from some type of disorder. The magnitude of the problem. We do not have data from the people who use chatgpt with a therapeutic intention or to validate conspiracy theories, but as with any massive technology (in February of this year it had 400 million monthly users) Obviously there will be countless cases of all kinds. We cannot affirm that it is AI is the one who is directly causing these delusions or hallucinations. In fact, the situations that are being viralized have many nuances and are more complex than a simple “the fault is AI”. Chatgpt plays a role, but the photo is bigger. The same fear of always. The fear that the machines will dominate the world and end humanity is recorded over fire In popular culturebut with the arrival of AI this threat It begins to sound more feasible (Although there are experts who They consider it ridiculous). It is the same fear that has emerged with any new technology and is not something recent. Already in the nineteenth century stories of telegraphs sent messages in Morse from the hereafter. If we are going to more recent examples we have a very clear one: video games. Have been related to Matanzas in schools And they even have compared to heroin. And with mobiles it has been said for years that They cause cancer. In short, social pánicos that we have already lived many times. The danger of a too complacent. Although there is much alarmism around, we cannot rule out that there is a problem. As we said, the excessive complacency of chatbots makes it often They end up giving us reason In our ideas and this can end up being dangerous in specific cases, especially if there is any pathology behind. The truth is that some suggestions that Chatgpt gave to the people who appear in the report went far beyond simply giving reason. For example, Torres suggested that he stop taking his anxiolytics and took ketamine as a “temporal liberator of the pattern.” There are those who believe that these types of messages are intentionally. This is the case of Eliezer Yudkowsky, an American writer defender The friendly that published an extensive thread in x Where he suggested that the AI ​​”knows” what he is doing: “Whatever containing chatgpt, he knew enough about humans to know that he was aggravating someone’s madness.” What is OpenAi doing. In line with that excessive complacency, last April OpenAi withdrew an update Because his AI was being too nice and flattering and that was scaring some users. From NYT they contacted OpenAi about the statements of these users and OpenAi replied with a statement: We are observing more indications that people are creating connections or links with chatgpt. As IA is integrated into everyday life, we must address these interactions carefully. We know that Chatgpt can be more receptive and personal than previous technologies, especially for vulnerable people, which means there is more at stake. We are working to understand and reduce the ways in which Chatgpt could strengthen or involuntarily amplify existing negative behaviors. Cover image | Pexelsmodified with chatgpt In Xataka | The kindness with chatgpt is coming out of Openai: the “please” and “thanks” have an absurd cost each

We have been believing that Iran is “five years” from the nuclear bomb. In reality we only know how much uranium enriches

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Few phrases have been as repeated in the geopolitics of the West as “Iran is five years from the nuclear bomb.” For more than three decades, we have heard predictions that place the Iranian regime on the verge of crossing the atomic threshold, a stopwatch that restarts again and again without the prophecy becoming fulfilled. The real problem is not so much what we know about Iran’s nuclear program, as the immensity of what we do not know. And it is in that fog of uncertainty where the most dangerous decisions are cooked. A diffuse red line like Casus Belli. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has initiated a war against Iran framed in which the regime is “close to finishing the construction of a nuclear bomb.” This language transforms an old threat into an immediate danger, turning the rhetorical red line into a justification for war. Although the United States initially denies direct participation in the attack, political and military support has gone in crescendo. A Message of President Donald Trump In capital letters, “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon!”, It works as a blank check for Israel. Thirty years of breached predictions. When a suspicion, and not an evidence, they are a reason for war, it is worth reviewing the newspaper library to put rhetoric in perspective. The feeling of “imminent nuclear bomb” in Iran is not new. It is a political construction that has been managing for decades, with Benjamin Netanyahu as its main architect. In 1992, Netanyahu already warned that Iran was “three or five years” to obtain nuclear weapons. In 2012, he starred in one of his most iconic moments at the UN, drawing a red line with a marker In a cartoon scheme of a pumpand ensuring that they would cross the line in the summer of 2013. Each period has been fulfilled without the weapon becoming materialized. What do intelligence agencies say. Although Israel had in the United States its main political ally, US intelligence agencies did not buy their rhetoric about Iran. In 2007, the National Intelligence Estimate De la CIA concluded with “high confidence” that Iran had stopped its nuclear militarization program, the AMAD Plan. The verification of this break came in 2015 with the Comprehensive Comprehensive Plan Joint (JCPOA), an agreement by which Iran limited uranium enrichment to 3.67% in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. The break that caught the fuse. Paradoxically, the withdrawal of the United States of the JCPOA in 2018, driven by the same rhetoric of the “imminent bomb”, caused the response that was intended to avoid. Iran began to enrich uranium at unprecedented levels: first 20% and then 60%, drastically shortening the theoretical deadlines for the pump and triggering the current crisis. Despite this, there are no evidence, beyond the expansion of enrichment plants, that Iran have the necessary technology or develop those weapons. Although, in honor of the truth, it is logical that there are no, since most of the activity is underground. Faith jump between enrichment and nuclear bomb. To understand how “near” Iran of the nuclear bomb is, you have to differentiate two key processes. The first is the fuel: the enrichment of uranium, the visible part of the process. It is about increasing the concentration of the fistible isotope 2 35 of the uranium from the 0.7% natural to 90% (the arms degree). Thanks to the withdrawal of the JCPOA, Iran accumulates a large amount of 60%enriched uranium. And moving from 60 to 90% is a technically feasible leap within a few weeks. However, Having the fuel is not having the enginewhat Anglo -Saxons call “weaponization.” A set of incredibly complex steps to convert the fistible material into a functional eye that can be mounted on a missile. They have to convert the uranium of arms degree, which is a gas, into a metal sphere. They have to surround that sphere with high precision explosives that have to detonate simultaneously in microseconds to compress the nucleus and start the chain reaction. And all this, in a package small and light enough to fit in the eyes of a missile and survive the launch. This is where we enter the field of almost total uncertainty. We know that this will investigated with the AMAD Plan, but its current progress is unknown. However, nobody knows it with certainty because intelligence on underground activities is very difficult to obtain. What we know with certainty. Despite decades of sanctions, sabotage, selective murders of its scientists and cyberbrains (like the famous Stuxnet, which destroyed uranium centrifuges), the Iranian nuclear program has not only survived, but has become stronger and more self -sufficient. Iran designs and produces its own advanced centrifuging. In fact, Israel’s main objective is to destroy the Fordow plant, that Iran built under a mountain to make it invulnerable to air attacks. In parallel, Iran has developed the largest and diverse ballistic missile program in the Middle East, and a fleet of trucks ready to shoot them. This resilience demonstrates that technical knowledge is deeply institutionalized in the regime, which is why Israel has eliminated those responsible for the nuclear program, as well as Iranian launches. At the same time, each Israeli attack can reinforce the conviction in Tehran that the pump is the only guarantee of survival, a fish that bites the tail, accelerated by Netanyahu’s rhetoric. They will go in the North Korean mirror or Pakistan. Beyond the rhetoric of the West, two countries offer key lessons about Iran. North Korea built its nuclear program to ensure the survival of the regime. Isolated and economically devastated, He saw the bomb as his only insurance policy against a overthrow imposed by the United States. The sanctions and pressure only reinforced their determination. Pakistan followed a strategic imperative. It sought to neutralize the military superiority of India. When India tried her bomb in 1974, the Pakistani bomb became a matter of national survival. Iran is a hybrid and more complex case. Share the survival … Read more

Psyllium went viral as a “natural alternative to Ozempic.” Reality is not so simple

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Like any revolution, Ozempic came with promises and A hidden price. Then the side effects, the cost and the need for a medical prescription arrived. While its shadow is lengthened, an alternative option is born that does not need punctures through an millenary seed. The shell of a seed. What began as a traditional remedy in southern Asia today is a trend in Tiktok. More than 13,000 videos under the hashtag #psylliumhusk show how this fiber is incorporated recipes, Challenges and Tips for losing weightcalm appetite or improve digestion. But behind the viral phenomenon there is something much simpler: the Psyllium is the peel that surrounds the seeds of the ovata plantgo, a discreet but effective plant. Also known as Psilio, I know has used For years as soft laxative thanks to its ability to form mass and facilitate intestinal transit. The product can be consumed in dust, capsules or in its raw form, reminiscent of wood chips. Upon contact with water, this soluble fiber forms a thick gel. And it is precisely this viscosity that explains a good part of its benefits. Science behind. The secret of the Psyllium is how it reacts to water, since it absorbs and forms a thick gel. This process helps reduce appetite, improve intestinal transit and control cholesterol and blood sugar. In fact, an investigation He has confirmed ityou just have to consume between 10 and 15 grams daily to even reduce LDL cholesterol, the considered bad. Not everything is so simple. Although the enthusiasm in networks is understandable, experts ask for caution. First, for a security issue, since the Psyllium needs at least one liter of water for every 20 grams of fiber has pointed to The Guardian Lena Beal, spokesman for the Nutrition and Dietary Academy. The reason is none other than if it is not consumed without sufficient liquid, it can become a danger of suffocation or cause intestinal obstructions. It is not for everyone. It is not for everyone. Because it is natural, it does not mean that it is harmless. From Cleveland Clinic They do not recommend it in people with difficulties in swallowing, serious intestinal diseases (stenosis or crohn disease) or in cases of chronic digestive disorders. It is also advisable to take precautions if you are taking medication, since the fiber It can interfere. Natural Ozempic? Comparisons are always hateful, as the saying goes. The Psychlium shell does not alter the hormonal system as the GLP-1 agonists do. And although it can support weight loss, it does not do so in a powerful way or in all cases. More support. Because consuming more fiber is one of the most consistent recommendations of Modern nutritional science. In the end it is about incorporating improvements in the long -term diet, support that comes with a broader look on what it means to take care of yourself. Image | PGDP123 and Chemist4u Xataka | Ozempic and blindness, we have been on the track of an extremely rare adverse effect for months. Now the AEMPS has taken a step forward

The greatest fear was that AI took our work. The reality is that they are replacing those who are learning to work

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In just a few weeks, thousands of students from generation Z will graduate in their respective careers with the hope of get that first job that allows them to start a professional career. However, the current panorama is increasingly complicated for those who seek their first job opportunity. The Difficulty accessing the labor market Not only does it come for the structural part of an economy shaking by Commercial uncertainty. The AI ​​is already beginning to assume tasks that until now carried out the Practices in practices or Junior employees, which traditionally served as an initial step for the newly graduates. The staircase has broken. As explained Aneesh Raman, responsible for Economic Opportunities of LinkedIn In an article for The New York Times“The first thing that is being broken is the lowest step of the professional staircase”, a trend that threatens to leave many young people without the possibility of learning and growing in their first years of career. As He predicted Fortune In 2024, the AI ​​already is doing your jobso there is no reason for companies to hire them. Currently, AI acts mainly as a support tool to lighten the workload of senior employees by automating routine tasks. In great technology, Like AmazonGoogle or Microsoft, are implemented to help their developers do administrative or generation tasks small code fragments. Tasks that until now were part of the learning process of Junior employees. The Z generation is already noticing it. Chris Hyams, CEO of Indeed, said in the Fortune‘S Workplace Innovation Summit that: “The good news is that there is no job that AI can perform all the skills required. This does not mean that it will not replace the workers, but the AI ​​cannot replace a complete job.” However, Hyams said that “in approximately two thirds of all works, 50% or more of the skills required are things that the current generative AI can do reasonably well, or very well.” This means that, although AI does not eliminate all positions, it does reduce the need to perform many basic tasks that used to train new employees. Youth unemployment data in the US. The implantation rhythm of AI in the business field is being faster in the United States than in other countries. According The published by The Atlantic, The New York Federal Reserve He warnedof an increase in unemployment among the newly graduates standing at 5.8% and 6.2% for younger workers. That is, something is happening in the entrance to the labor market. Although there is still no definitive evidence that AI is the only cause of the weakening of this link in the professional career of the youngest, the trend is clear: the opportunities to learn working from below are disappearing in the sectors where AI is being implemented faster, as companies Like Duolingo or Shopify They are adopting policies that reduce hiring options of the youngest to do those routine tasks if there is the possibility that they can make them an AI. Ask for qualified employees, but not form them. In parallel to the creation of this training wall imposed by automation, companies from all over the world denounce a growing shortage of qualified labor. According to recent European Union data collectedby Euronewsthe lack of experienced workers and advanced skills has become one of the main challenges for the economy. This phenomenon creates a paradox: as long as young people do not find opportunities to train in companies from their simpler processes, companies fail to cover their vacancies with qualified personnel. If this trend is consolidated, in a few years AI will not have left millions of workers without employment. In reality, it will have been the companies themselves who would have prevented the training of qualified personnel and with the necessary experience for supervise the work of AI that is developing. In Xataka | Founders of small startups and large technological ones already has something in common: they are millmillonarios thanks to the AI In Xataka | “Humans will not be necessary for most things”: Bill Gates does not believe that doctors and teachers have a future Image | Unspash (Mushvig Niftaliyev)

In the fierce war for augmented reality, China has five “dragons” willing to win it

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I’ve been observing from the barrier how the career of The augmented reality. And, I must be Franco: so far no one had taken it seriously, not even Apple. Vision Pro It is a brilliant product, but niche. Very niche. Google herself renocated in her most important event of the year, the I/or 2025 which believes to recognize as a key to democratize access to this product category. “We know that glasses can only be really useful if you want to wear them all day.” And Android XR arrived Android XR marks a before and after. It is the first real effort to create an accessible mass platform for every manufacturer that bets on augmented or mixed reality glasses. What seemed An initial project in conjunction with Samsung To develop a VR helmet, it has ended up materializing in a paradisiacal garden on which any manufacturer can walk. This operating system will play a fundamental role in the popularization of A format with great sale potential: Traditional glasses with augmented reality. A platform through which users can use (naturally) apps such as Google Maps, photos and, the most important, Gemini, on reduced size devices. Google is not winning only the race when developing an open platform that gives life to a product that free us (at least partially) of the smartphone, is also leading Who offers the best assistant driven by AI. The Gemini native integration In augmented reality glasses it makes even more sense than a mobile. The voice command becomes almost an essential when the physical interaction with the device is minimized. It is, in fact, Google’s goal. Free ourselves from the smartphone in daily tasks How to call, follow addresses towards some point or something as simple as adding a reminder to the calendar. The friction is minimized to remove the mobile from the pocket for any of these purposes. Glasses, voice command, effective execution. THE BATTLE FOR PRICE AND FORMAT Vision Pro or even Quest target are born as niche products. Apple sells mixed reality at almost 4,000 dollars (taxes included), with results below analysts’ predictions. About 175,000 units sold in a year. Goal has been Selling the Oculus Quest as hot breadwith an accumulated of 20 million units. Perhaps the quality-price has something to do. So much that Apple considers to focus efforts on more economical vision. “We know that glasses can only be really useful if you wanttake them all day. “ Virtual reality has its niche, But the augmented opens to products mainstream (glasses that you can wear almost all day), a formula that starts working. Not satisfied with Meta Quest figures, the company started four years ago an incursion into the world of traditional format glasses next to Ray-Ban. First with Ray-Ban Storiesand Three years later with Ray-Ban Meta. A new product, a “new” format, and One million sales in their first year of life. The “traditional glasses with headphones and things” works. But the goal is missing a platform adapted to this format and less limited hardware (these glasses can barely record some video, receive notifications and call). And there China comes into play China has been engaged in a career to lead the technologies necessary to create traditional format glasses with augmented reality. And there are five big names in it: XREAL Rayneo Rokid Immobile Meizu It is curious how, beyond giants like Huawei (whose platform Harmonyos does not currently prioritize AR devices) innovation in this territory is in the hands of small businesses. XREAL It is a start-up that already works in some Badge glasses Under the Android XR platform. It will be a product to take into account and relevant to China, since Most hardware is produced nationwide (currently 65%, with the aim of reaching 100% on a two -year horizon). Instead of betting on Qualcomm technologies, Xreal has its own chip for glasses, the X1. Rayneo It may sound more, and it is a subsidiary of the Chinese giant TCL. He is working with Alibaba to take AI models to smart glasses and, for the 2028 Olympic Games, they plan collaborate with COI to create promotional videos in which the perspective of athletes (which will wear scratch glasses) is the protagonist. A look at your website It lets us see that they are focused on markets beyond the Chinese, with the focus currently on the projection of content. Rokid It is founded by an ex-alibaba, and manufactures glasses that use the QWAN model (precisely Alibaba) to translate into real time. It has enough state support, and works with national companies. Although it has a consumer product, it is quite focused on specific solutions. Immobile He is one of China Mobile’s main collaborators in his attempt to develop one of the great national language models. Jiutian LLMone of the first models, and is being tested in the glasses of augmented reality of immobile. Their abilities are multimodal (voice, text, compression of what you are seeing), and the connection is direct by 5G to the cloud of China Mobile, without the mobile as an intermediary. Finally we have Meizua historic Chinese manufacturer who tried in Spain with its mobiles but could not with Huawei and Xiaomi. The company has developed Llm Flyme a multimodal AI engine that vertebra both its XR devices and its connected car systems. They also combine text, voice and visual recognition, integrated in recent launch glasses, such as their Starv Air 2. A company recently acquired by the Geely engine giant, with expansion plans outside China. The keys to winning this format race Although Google has put the platform on the table and has set your hand to companies that want to collaborate with it, this It is still a war to dispute And in which there are still no proposals for attack to the generalist public, beyond the first goal approach with Rayban … with glasses that do not even execute augmented reality. Google has important strategic advantages: its Android ecosystem is unbeatable … Read more

The data suggests that Germany works less hours than Spain. The reality of your labor market tells another story

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The reduction of working hours and how to face it is an issue on the debate table in a good part of the world. In Spain, the reduction of working hours is in Parliamentary Processing Phase and it is expected that at the end of the year a working day of 37.5 hours per week will be carried out. Countries like Germany, United Kingdom or Portugal have performed pilot tests of the four -day work week to evaluate The effect of that reduction. However, why is the reduction of working on if, according to 2023 data of Eurostat, in Spain the Real workday Average is already 36.4 hours a week, while in Germany is 34 hours a week? The key after that figure is in the quality of the employment of each country and reveals that, even if it may seem, a worker in Germany does not work less hours than in Spain. The middle days. In response to Eurostat data, indeed, the days in Germany seem to be shorter than in Spain, with 36.4 hours a week in front of the 34 hours of Germany. However, if we segment that data by type of day, the expected thing would be for working hours to maintain the same proportion. Nothing is further from reality. By differentiating the Eurostat data Between full time and part -time day we find that the average number of usual weekly hours in the main employment in full -time is 40.2 hours a week in both Spain and Germany. Something similar happens when differentiating the part -time Where Spain leaves an average of 20.3 hours a week, while on average part -time workers in Germany do 21.8 hours. So, if the days of Spain and Germany are not so different, why is there such a remarkable difference in the average? The key is in the quality of the labor market. Precariousness. According to him Press report Prepared by an expert council appointed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy in 2022, 42% of workers in Spain suffer some kind of precariousness (Submployment, temporary contracts, low wages, etc.). Despite that, after the 2022 labor reform, it changed The contract model expanding the use of the contract full -time indefinite. According to the 2023 INE data13.3% of the workforce in Spain worked part -time. That is, the data indicate That in that year, 15,454,000 employees worked full -time, while 2,580,900 did it part -time in Spain. Instead, the German labor market is much more fragmented in that aspect. In 2023, 31% of this country’s workers worked part -time, According to data of the Federal Statistics Office. This difference in full -time employment and part -time contracts makes a big difference in the calculation of the final average of weekly hours worked, since both variables are taken into account. Active retirement. To this is added the enormous success in Germany of the model of “Minijobs“, in which workers complement studies or retirement with part -time jobs for a few hours a week. official dataaround 13% of retirees between 65 and 74 years in Germany, they continue working, either out of economic necessity or by personal choice. On the other hand, in Spain that percentage drops to 4.08% of the retirees who choose to continue working with some or none modification in your workday. Average working life in Europe. Source: Eurostat That makes, according to Eurostat dataGermany’s working life is 39.6 years, while in Spain it is 36.3 years on average. That is, a good part of German workers work less hours a week in part -time jobs, but they do it for more years than Spanish workers. In Xataka | Some researchers have analyzed the working day in Spain: the same thing that 40 years ago is worked, but in worse jobs Image | Eurostat

Online trade was supposed to retire supermarkets. The reality is that in Spain they do not stop opening

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Despite all its uncertainties and The unknowns sown by the tariff war, 2025 promises to be a good year for the supermarket sector. At least if we trust Growth forecasts and shared figures A few days ago by Asedasthe Spanish Association of Distributors, Self -Services and Supermarkets. According to their estimates, during the first four months of the year 244 stores have opened in Spain, 25% more than during the same period last year. Not just that. The sector expects to say goodbye to 2025 with 850 new establishments. If confirmed, the map of establishments distributed throughout Spain could exceed the 26,000 barrier. A figure: 778. He arrives at the majority of cities and large municipalities in the country to verify the trend, but besieged, the employer of the sector, has put figures: In Spain there are more and more supermarkets. According to their latest annual report, in 2024 they opened 778 new stores that raised the total map of points of sale of the country (self -services, super and hypermarkets) to 25,585. Once the closures are discounted, that leaves a “Net growth” of 352 businesses with respect to those operated in 2023. And how will this year go? Although 2024 closed with a map of the sale map, the inaugurations rhythm was somewhat lower than that of recent years. In 2024, 778 openings were registered, but in 2023 they were 787 and the previous year 889. Asedas, which Agglutina To companies such as Savoramas, Aldi, Covirán, Día, Lidl or Mercadona, hope that this “slight descent” is “passenger”. The reason: So far this year the association has already registered 244 openings, 25% more than during the same months of 2024. Their forecasts pass because the year ends with 850 new premises. Changes in the sector. Beyond its opening data or the size of the National Park, The report Asedas is interesting because it leaves some ideas about the trends that govern in the sector. The most interesting probably is that the supermarket format “strengthens itself as the most successful”, compared to others such as self -service or hypermarket. The association also requires that more than half of the stores (about 50.6%) “They are framed in proximity and coexistence formulas.” Interesting is also the speed with which the market changes. Asedas estimates that since 2021 almost a quarter (23%) of the network has been renewed or renovated. For the collective the key to that “dynamism” connects mainly with associative trade, such as franchises and cooperatives, which in 2024 were behind approximately 60% of the openings. “They have a great impact on the rural world, since a third of these inaugurations occurred in municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants,” They emphasize. “Regional leaders”. Another of the keys to the growth of the sector is, In Asedas opinionin the “regional leaders.” In fact, in its report, the focus on 25 companies (audited in total 320 companies) that increased their average commercial area from 2021, which far exceeds the general tendency of the sector, which also grew, but only 4.3%, were audited. It is not the first to point in that direction. In 2024 Kantar He already pointed out in Another sectorial study How the super regional were planting the white brands and large chains. “In a context of market stability, the organized distribution sector has registered a 0.6% growth in volume during 2024, mainly driven by short assortment chains and regional supermarkets,” Kantar collected in February, in February Another report in which he calculates that regional ones have reached a quota of 18% after having grown 0.7 points. The reason: its supply of frescoes, personalized service and expansion to new geographical areas. Pending rural. Asedas slides another interesting idea: despite the urban exodus, their data shows that in Rural the retail Food continues to register more openings than closures. Between 2020 and 2024 he estimates that they have opened their doors 1,117 new stores In municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants, which means that almost a quarter (23.6%) of the openings were concentrated in rural environments. The employer also highlights the role of small businesses and family chains with networks of 10 or even less stores, although the truth is that smaller businesses do not always endure the thrust of the chains. Kantar slides That the growth of the “organized distribution sector”, including regional supermarkets, has been achieved in part by the “volume transfer” from the “traditional trade”, which has punctured almost 4%. Their February data They corroborate that operators with the highest market share in value are Mercadona, Carrefour, Lidl, Eroski, Dia, Consum, Alcampo, Aldi and IFA. Among the nine bind a quota that touches 70% of the market. In total Asedas estimates that the sector set has 25,585 active establishments (14,486 supermarkets, 10,589 self -service and 510 hypermarkets) that give direct employment to about 414,100 people. The annual investment in new construction of the Round collective between 1,000 and 1.3 billion of euros. Are all opportunities? No. Despite the opening data or the increase in the benefit (together the main companies added 2,141 million of euros in 2023, with an ascending profitability curve), the sector also faces challenges. The main one: although the business expect to growwill do it in a very competitive scenario. “In a market that barely grows in volume, the challenge is to gain share of other competitors. It requires having a clear and differential value proposal, which attracts and fidelize better to consumers and exploit roads of inorganic growth,” Comment to The avant -garde Enrique Porta, consumer partner and retail of the KPMG audit. Another key is to adapt to new market trends, such as less and less weight relative of the hyper, or adjust the size of the network to the demand. After all, although the sector expects to register hundreds of new openings throughout the year, which could even raise the points of sale above 26,000, Nor is it alien to closures, layoffs and readjustments. Images | Alcampo and Eroski In Xataka | In … Read more

You think your flight is managed by an airline, but in reality it sends a silent giant from Linear City: Amadeus

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From its central offices in Linear City, to eastern Madrid, Amadeus controls the largest travel reservation system on the planet with an almost suspicious discretion. This technological colossus, which barely sounds in the Spanish daily conversations beyond salmon pages, It is the invisible technological brain of global tourism. When you reserve a flight, a hotel room or a rental car, it is very likely that Amadeus technology intervenes at some point in the process. Its software processes billions of daily transactions According to your own data —Ans consultations, reserves and technical efforts, and connects more than 2,500 airlines and 800,000 hotels with their clients in almost all countries in the world. The 2025 first quarter data confirm your strong position: Benefit of 364 million euros (+12.3%). Revenues of 1,632 million euros (+9.1%). Unseen. The really interesting thing is how Amadeus has built a global model without giving up its European identity: Madrid is still its strategic center. Nice (France) is its ideas laboratory. And Erding (Germany) processing data. In this way he has created a viable alternative to the Californian or Chinese model. And without making too much noise. The contradiction. While the company celebrates the historical results published on Friday, the Stock Exchange He punished his shares with a 5.3%drop. The company has recognized that aerial incidents, weather problems and government developments in the United States have affected its reserves, and has cut its growth forecast due to the impact of the dollar-European exchange rate. In perspective. In times where in Europe Technological sovereignty is increasingly worried – Another question is how in time this concern comes – Amadeus is practically an anomaly. It has shown that it is possible to build critical technology with Spanish DNA and compete worldwide. Growth has been especially strong in Asia-Pacific, where reserves rose 10% and embarked passengers increased by 12%, consolidating this region as its main expansion engine. The next. Its net financial debt is at 1,875 million euros, now equivalent to 0.79 times its ebitda Of the last twelve months, 23.7% less than a year ago. As He has pointed out his CEO, Luis Marotothe company is confident in counteracting current challenges with price increases, collection of new customers and extension of services, while keeping attentive to the global uncertainty environment. The elimination of your debt instead of taking advantage of good inertia to try to grow out of control leaves us another reading between lines: Amadeus, rather than for the next quarter, is preparing for the coming years. Outstanding image | Amadeus In Xataka | The Empire of the PowerBanks of rent everywhere: the Chinese solution that should not take to reach Spain

After the blackout, the government defended the nuclear closure because “in Spain there is no uranium.” Reality is more complicated

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The question of uranium has returned to the forefront after the president of the Government affirm that “in Spain there is no uranium and therefore we will have to import it.” Although Spain has large uranium deposits, reality is always more complicated than the usual black or white policy. The second European country with more uranium. Spain has between 25,000 and 30,000 tons of uranium, “the second most important reserves of the European Union,” According to the geologist Jesús Martínez Frías. Both the ‘Red Book’ of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) as the National Geographic Institute (IGN) indicate the existence of resources with the possibility of exploitation in Spanish territory, mainly in the province of Salamanca. Why they stopped exploding. Spain had uranium mining, but The last mine closed in 2000 for the “exhaustion of economically exploitable mining resources”, according to the Ministry for Ecological Transition. The Spanish Nuclear Society (SNE) said that production costs had exceeded 30% market prices, which made its continuity unfeasible. Two decades later, the Law 7/2021 of climate change and energy transition Truncó any new attempt To exploit the deposits: “Due to their prejudices, their cost will not be granted new exploration, research or concessions of exploitation of radioactive minerals, nor will new authorization requests be admitted.” Environmental problems. The risk of radioactive water contamination is another elephant in the room. A study Posted by Environmental Pollution In 2018 he documented “much higher” uranium concentrations than background geochemical levels near old mines abandoned in Salamanca. The levels in the soil ranged between 207.2 and 542.4 mg kg⁻¹, when the natural background levels are 29.8 mg kg⁻¹ for granite and 71.2 mg kg⁻¹ for slate. The study proposed environmental restoration measures, such as reforestation, in areas close to old farms. They are not entirely unfeasible. The political landscape has changed with the European Union in search of energy sovereignty and resources. The economic landscape too. With The price of upward uraniumthe Berkeley Minera company has a revived interest in its Retortillo project. The request for exploitation of this deposit was delivered before Law 7/2021 applied, but the Nuclear Safety Council also issued An unfavorable environmental report for “the low reliability and the high uncertainties of security analysis in geotechnical and hydrogeological aspects.” Uranium you have to enrich it. Although there was a political change that leads to the reactivation of Retry, the uranium that is extracted from the earth (natural uranium) barely contains 0.7% of Uranium-235, the necessary physiognable isotope for most nuclear reactors. It would be necessary to enrich uranium, a process that consists in increasing the concentration of uranium-235 to 3-5% levels for light water reactors, which are the most common. Spain does not have its own high -scale enriched uranium, or facilities in which to enrich uranium at the industrial level for use as fuel in nuclear centrals. Can Spain enrich uranium? Spain had the capacity to produce uranium concentrates (in the form of yellow cakes or Yellowcakes), But obtaining enriched uranium is a subsequent, technologically more complex and expensive process, dominated by a few countries. Today, 60% He leaves Russia and China. ENUSA (the national uranium company) already had difficulty replacing Russian enriched uranium after Commercial vetoes for the Ukraine War. Enriching it would be a major challenge. A change of direction. In the new geopolitical context, the European Union is promoting the reactivation of mining to ensure a sovereign supply of key materials for energy transition and defense. Spain is rich in Uranium, but also in resources such as copper, which is the second EU producer. Besides, It has lithiumcobalt, Coltán and possible lower land deposits. Seven of the 47 new Strategic Mining Projects promoted by the EU They will be developed in Spainalthough most face the rejection of environmental organizations for its environmental impact, such as the lithium mine in Cáceres. The epicenter of the debate. Discussions on Spanish uranium are a broader reflex of tensions: the strategic autonomy of resources, the imperatives of the energy transition, environmental protection and social acceptance of mining activity. In the end, the epicenter of the debate is the high cost of building and maintaining traditional nuclear plants in the face of renewable energy sources, of which Spain is world power. Only last year, Spain produced 148,999 GWh of renewable energy, 56.8% of Mix. If the blackout was A notice that the electricity is not prepared To stabilize large renewable energy fluctuations, what touches is wondering what are the investments in storage, investors, interconnections and energy sources alternative to pollutants combined cycles of gas to avoid another blackout. Everything is said regarding the closure of nuclear plants or the extraction of uranium in Spain, but the solar industry will not go anywhere. Image | Tecnatom In Xataka | In Salamanca there is a high -tech nuclear fuel bars factory that exports to all of Europe: we have visited it

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